Need For Speed: Shift

"...a great reboot for the NFS franchise.  Cheat Code Central
"...delivers like a Porsche.  Cynamite.com
"...raises the bar for realism in a console-based racer.  GamingNexus.com
"...packs enough punch to entertain you at a reasonable price.  Jay Acevedo, GameFocus.com

GameSpy.com 10 of 10
A racer-hating friend of mine asked a characteristically contrarian question while I was extolling the virtues of Need for Speed: Shift to him via instant messenger: "Who cares," he asked. "What's the point?" I was stupefied and annoyed and immediately replied that the point of a racing game is to race, much like the point of a shooter is to shoot and the point of a puzzle game is to solve. But after firing up Shift for a few more laps, I came up with a better argument: The point of a racing game is to present auto racing in such a way as to make it thrilling to anyone that bothers to play, be they grease monkey or Luddite. By that metric, Need for Speed: Shift is one of the best racing games I've ever played...Though you'll often feel like you're just on the verge of careening into a Burnout-style catastrophe, the only ill effects suffered for smash-ups are, if you'll excuse the play on words, ill effects. Crash an Aston Martin through a crowd of lagging jalopies and the worst you're likely to experience is a jolt, a graying-out of vision followed by a lasting blur, and the groans of your driver. Damage is all but inconsequential, even with the settings maxed; at one point my Lancer ably brushed off a 200-mile-per-hour trip into a retaining wall with nothing but a slight leftward drift to show for it. Bad behavior is incentivized by a driver progression system that promotes aggressive tactics like violently overtaking opponents. Precision driving nets similar rewards, but the easiest path to victory typically flows directly through some other jerk's bumper, meaning that masterful navigation usually loses out to brute force...Notably absent from Shift: the redacted Gs and too-cool-by-half characters so prevalent in contemporary EA sports titles. You won't be tradin' or grindin' or crashin' anymore, and the conspicuous branding and self-defeating trend-chasing that brought us Fight Night Round 3's Burger King Brand Whopper Hits Man-Smashing Exhibition and turned Need for Speed: ProStreet into an obnoxious MTV commercial are gone. Shift definitely isn't that game, and with any luck, Need for Speed is no longer that franchise. - Rory Manion

IGN.com 9 of 10
EA's Need for Speed franchise has had its up and downs. Unfortunately, the past few years has been one of those "down" bits, with the last couple games doing nothing to advance the series in any way that you would call good. So, something had to be done, and EA decided to hand off the reins to Slightly Mad Studios, the folks behind the PC racing series GTR, to create Need for Speed: Shift. So did the changing of the guard pay off?...Oh, yes it did, and in a huge way...There are so many things done right in terms of design that this feels like the freshest take on the "simulation" racing genre in many, many years. I put the word "simulation" in quotes because while Need for Speed: Shift is undoubtedly closer to that end of the racing spectrum than, say, Burnout, Slightly Mad made some very smart choices in deciding what would be realistic and what wouldn't. The result is that the team is essentially giving you a racing experience that is extremely close to the real thing in terms of presentation, while keeping the controls just arcadey enough to allow relative newcomers a much easier entryway into the game than the likes of Gran Turismo...The last thing that I want to mention before wrapping this up is that while the online mode for the game doesn't offer a huge number of options, it's really fun. There's a basic Quick Race option (both ranked and unranked) which is pretty much exactly what you'd expect. But then you have a Driver Duel mode, which plays out sort of like a King of the Hill match. There are a handful of levels in the ladder that you're trying to climb, and you start at the bottom faced off against another racer at the same level. You'll both be in the same car (which is randomly chosen for you), and the car and track match the level that you're on. So on the first level, you'll be in pokey rides on easy tracks, while at the top you'll be in supercars on the most technical courses. The interesting thing here is that if you lose, you go all the way back down to the bottom. It's fun and fast-paced enough to keep you going for a good while...Need for Speed: Shift is a glorious return to greatness (and even excellence) for EA's seminal racing franchise. Slightly Mad Studios has delivered a driving experience that, while not completely accurate in terms of its simulation aspects, is practically dead-on in terms of what it's like to race around some of the world's best racing circuits. The career mode could (and should) have been a little better, but the act of driving is basically phenomenal. - Chris Roper

GameShark.com 10 of 10
Need For Speed: Shift is about the most accessible, purest and most polished racing game on the market. Though it's decidedly sim-oriented (unlike the last Need For Speed title ? last year's Undercover) it offers such a customizable experience that just about anyone can have a blast with it. It's beefed up and bursting at the seams with content, with tracks, cars and modes out the wazoo; yet it presents a very clear and polished vision throughout the game. Whether you're competing in a time trial or blazing through a drift competition, you'll never once forget that you are the driver of a very fast car - and you are among the best in the world...This game is all about speed ? and leveling. As with most "serious" (or at least, semi-serious) racing games, you'll start the single player mode at the bottom of the rankings and earn your way to the top. In Shift there are 50 driver levels to attain, each one earned by driving fast and earning profile points in the "precision" and "aggression" categories. Placing high in races earns you cash, which allows you to upgrade your rides and buy new vehicles. You'll also earn "stars" in each race, which allow you to unlock new races and new tiers of events...Like a loyal scout, you'll also get badges. Each time you complete a notable action (say, trading paint with ten opponents) you'll get a minor badge. Earning consecutive minor badges earns you a master badge, which comes in bronze, silver gold and platinum denominations. Platinum badges require you to earn each and every minor badge - and there are a crazy amount of them set across a wide variety of categories. Add this in with the generous achievements, and you have yourself one hell of a grab bag...Gearheads will be in heaven with the wide variety of vehicle customization tools. Skilled gamers will have absolutely drool-worthy garages after a few hours of play, allowing for those inclined to go in and get their hands dirty tweaking technical specs or decorating their rides...Shift isn't perfect (there are occasional hiccups in the action and the drift mode isn't exactly stellar), but it is incredibly fun and the sheer thrill of the speed is intense enough to shake off minor complaints. What EA has done here is reinvent a bloated franchise, and turned it into a product that the hardcore and the more casual among us can enjoy equally. - Danielle Riendeau